Dog News, Events & Dog Care Advice

Therapy dogs, also referred to as comfort dogs, help support a person’s general wellbeing by providing attention and comfort. Therapy dogs are both used by individuals and in professional settings like children’s hospitals, nursing homes and schools, to give ongoing mental health support.

The support therapy dogs offer patients has proven results in reducing a range of psychological health issues such as stress, anxiety or depression. They’ve also shown to aid a patient’s recovery after surgery or a serious accident. 

Duties

In the UK there is no register or certification process for therapy dogs. But to be effective in their role of providing emotional support the dogs need to be very well trained. Therapy dogs must:

• Be friendly
• Be highly obedient
• Be social and like being around strangers
• Remain calm in new or hectic and stressful situations
• Not get easily distracted
• Enjoy

The government are looking to introduce new powers to reduce puppy smuggling and ban the import of dogs with cropped ears and docked tails.

The proposed new powers include:

• Raising the minimum age of imported puppy’s from 15 weeks to 6 months.
• A ban on importing heavily pregnant dogs to safeguard puppy and mother welfare.
• Prohibiting the movement into Great Britain of dogs with cropped ears and docked tails.

Why are these changes needed?

Demand for puppies increased massively during the 2020 lockdown, causing the average price for a puppy to go up from £1,900 to over £3,000. People with no experience of dog breeding, and some unscrupulous traders have, seen this as a business opportunity with no regard for the welfare of the dogs.

From the Government’s official press release:

“More than 66,000 dogs were commercially imported into the UK last year (2020) according

The UK government’s new Pet Theft Taskforce delivered a report in September 2021 which outlined recommendations to tackle rising pet theft.

The most important recommendation is to make pet abductions a specific crime. The new law would recognise the welfare of animals and that pets are valued as more than just property.

Stealing pets is a criminal offense and offenders can face a maximum sentence of seven years. But this sits under the current Theft Act 1968 law which determines pets as property. The new proposed law takes into account the Animal Welfare Act 2006, whereby if someone steals an animal from its owner then they’re also liable for prosecution for animal cruelty and other offensives included in the Animal Welfare Act. It is not currently known what the maximum sentence for a new offence of pet abduction might be.

Report recommendations

The government’s

Guide dogs assist people who are blind or vision impaired to walk safely between destinations they been trained to go. Qualified guide dogs have to be extremely well-behaved, smart, obedient, well socialised, and always able to perform their duties in any given situation.

Labradors, Golden Retrievers and German Shepherds are the most common pure breeds for guide dogs. The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association state that they have found a Golden Retriever crossed with a Labrador makes for the best combination for an ideal guide dog.

Duties

While the fundamental duties of a guide dog may seem straight forward, there are many minor but crucial aspects these dogs must perform to keep their owner safe:

• Leading a person from one location to another
• Walking steadily in a straight line on pavements and avoiding obstacles
• Not turning corners unless

We are very pleased to announce that JULIUS-K9® UK will be at all three DogFest 2021 events this year!

DogFest is an annual event by dog lovers for dog lovers which celebrates our furry friends in a fun festival style. It has exciting arena displays, expert advice, shopping, food and drink, music and lots of fun have-a-go activities for your dog and all the family.

DogFest is taking place in three locations across England during September 2021:

• Hertfordshire, Knebworth House – 11-12^th September
• Gloucestershire, Cirencester Park – 18-19^th September
• Cheshire, Tatton Park – 25-26^th September

There will be live events from a wide range of dogs, canine trainers, and display teams on the main stage area. These include displays from

Jogging with your dog can be extremely rewarding. It allows your dog to have a variety of exercise and gives you extra motivation to keep to your running routine.

We outlined how to jog with your dog safely and responsibly in our Running With Your Dog article, but we thought we’d go into more detail about how to choose the right equipment before you head off for a run with your pet pal.

It’s important to remember that not all dogs are cut out for high intensity exercise. This is especially true for short-nosed and short legged breeds like bulldogs or corgis. You also shouldn’t just take out more senior dogs out for a run or force more lethargic dogs to go from next to no exercise to trying to get them to keep up with you on a 5k.

It is strongly recommended that you check with your vet to see if your pet is up for the challenge before taking them out running.

Fire investigation dogs play important role in determining if arson has been committed. Their skill at detecting the presence of ignitables at a scene is invaluable to investigators as they can find the source of a fire that could otherwise go undetected.

There are a total of 39 fire brigades operating across the UK with over 22,000 full-time fighters, but (as of 2013) there are only 17 fire dog units spread across all brigades. For instance East Anglia only has two fire investigation dogs in a unit which covers a wide area of Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Essex, and Suffolk.

Many more fire dogs work with private firms who assess scenes for insurance companies.

How fire dogs are used on investigations

If arson is suspected by the responding fire brigade, or if a fire happened in suspicious circumstances, a Fire Investigation Search Dog is called to the scene to help gather evidence.

When

Playing tug of war with your dog has many benefits including helping you bond with your pet, hone their natural instincts, works as great training tool, and is an excellent source of exercise.

When used properly, tug toys are perfectly safe for puppies and dogs of any age. However, like any physical activity done with your dog, you should understand basic dos and don’ts to ensure you and your pet’s safety.

We have several safety tips below, but the most important one to remember is that you should always let your dog guide games of tug of war – never exert more pulling force than your dog gives!

Tug games and aggression

There has been some misinformation that games like tug of war promote bad behaviour and aggression in dogs, but this is not true. In fact these types of games can be a great training tool.

However, any type of physical game can cause already poorly behaved dogs to act out even

There are around 2,500 police service dogs operating within police forces across the UK, half of which are in the General Purpose Dog Unit.

General Purpose Police Dogs are multi-disciplined canines who are trained to undertake a wide range of skills, including:

• Tracking suspects
• Missing person searches
• Finding and recovering evidence
• Public order and patrols
• Aid in controlling dangerous dogs
• Protect the handler in dangerous situations and discourage threatening behaviour

Having these dogs trained in such a board manner makes them a highly valuable addition to territorial police forces across the UK.

While English Cocker Spaniels, Springer Spaniel and Labradors are used for more specialist roles like bomb and firearm detection, German Shepherd Dogs or Belgian Malinois are the two common breeds used in the general purpose unit.

Early

Teaching your puppy to walk on a lead is an important behavioural lesson and the sooner they are comfortable on a leash then the easier all training aspects become. Having puppies controlled on lead can be very useful for housebreaking and other training aspects, not just outdoor walks.

You can start to leash train your puppy from ten weeks old.  

Why leash training is important for puppies

The sooner your dog learns good behaviours the better. Leash training your puppy will massively reduce the chances of them pulling when they are older and can be more challenging to control.

Puppies are very excitable and the more control you have of them, both in public and in your garden, means you ensure their safety. While they are leash controlled you can easily stop them drinking or eating anything undesirable, helping to prevent illness and injury. You also help keep wildlife safe from your puppy’s (sometimes